Sacramento daily record-union. [volume] (Sacramento [Calif.]) 1875-1891, 1887-09-19
HOW HE LEARNED TO SMOKE.
An Old Tar's Yarn of the Reason He
Began to Use the Pipe.


al don't mind tellin' We how larned to
smoke, though SEEM you've got the hang
of it now. 'twon't larn We nothin'," said an
old sailor to New York Sun reporter.
(" You see, / shipped first off in the Two
Jennies, a neat bark IN the Manila trade
outen Boston Old Captain Strong was a
powerful man for discipline. and when he
catched one of us youngsters nappin', he'd
lambast us, sartin. Ever been to sea? In
course not. l know'd it, but thought I'd
be perlite and ask We, so you wouldn't think
] tux you for greeny. | recken if We had
you'd know that the wind watch was just
what kerfumixed the boys every time.
Keep awake? It's simply impossible. I'd
tumble on deck fast enough when the
watch was called, and 'ud take my place
on lookout as clipper as a Water-street
canary, but in about fifteen minutes. bein'
/ wasn't seasicl no more, the rollin' of the
Two Jennies was just like rock me to sleep,
mother, in cradle, with the creakin' of
the blocks to make me think of the way
my aunt Marian used to sing me to sleep
when ! was a kid. / know'd the old
man 'ud catch me if | slept three winks,
and he'd lam me with the flynn
.JlD uOWluduI, Dul ~ W slctp illuos.
Fust off tried walkin' like | seen the
old sailors, but 'twan't no use; then I'd
chew rope yarn. No go. Then | got a
pin often one of the sailors, and when I'd
find myself noddin' too far I'd jab it into
my leg. want but 10 years old, and
that ere couldn't last, but what to do
didn't know. In course this all what Pm
tellin' you didn't happen all to wunst; it
Jest KEEP comm on harder n harder every
night what | had to turn out at eight
BELLS At last the old man catched me. l
was standin' up square in the middle of
the t'gallant fo'c'ls the last | know, and the
| next thing | was all in heap whar I'd
| been standin' and the old man a stingin'
me with the end o the flynn jib down.
haul. | didn't go to sleep no more that
| watch, but the next time | had lookout
| was Jest as bad off as ever. Then | thought
about water. | says Pll fix it, and
almost did. / got bucket and histed in
bucketful of brine. Then plunged my
| head in that, and, believe it or not, went
| fast to sleep with my face under water. 1t
felt that cool and good that jest went
right off. In course was drowndin' hand
| over fist, but the second mate comes along
dllu Nul NJtCliSS llic ~. Hell
he says: Sonny, I'll tell you what you dc
and you won't go to sleep no more. Jest
| sneak down ford and borrow a pipe and ter
hacker from one of the men what's asleep
and can't help themselves which l did ii
| to wunst.
Yah, the way the first Whit sarved me
turns my stummick when l thinks of il
now. I hadn't never smoked before
though I'd been Twin in fo'c'sl where
you'd thought there wasn't no air but
smoke. Well, that ere sickness cured me
of wantin' to sleep for about half an hour.
When | began to feel easy-like in my
stummick the sleep came back and |
pinted for the fo'csl lamp and lit the pipe
SOS to make more sickness come, and SO
got through the watch, and a lot of other
watches. 1t was pretty tough, but boys
has to take things tuff when they goes to
sea. | was year and nineteen days
gettin' back to Boston from Manila, and
by that time larn'd to like the pipe, and
keep awake on watch, too. | reckon Pve
larn'd more'n forty boys to smoke that way
since then"